


Palpatine is a Liar

by BurntKloverfield



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Genealogy, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey (Star Wars) is Nobody, Rey is Not a Palpatine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/pseuds/BurntKloverfield
Summary: A detour to confirm Rey's lineage leads to Palpatine's defeat and Ben's redemption.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 35
Collections: I Fixed It: a collection of TROS fix it fics





	Palpatine is a Liar

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to write Palpatine being a liar the moment I came home from seeing TROS, but the pain has finally ebbed, just a little. Save Ben Solo.

“You are a Palpatine.” 

“You have his power.”

“You are his granddaughter.”

The revelation circled Rey’s mind. She had heard stories of Emperor Palpatine, but that was all they had ever been to her, stories. She was now linked directly to the most evil man in the Galaxy’s history. He was supposed to be dead. He was supposed to have been dead for decades. Yet, now, he was threatening everything again, somehow alive. 

“Are you alright?” Finn asked, sitting beside her around the dejarik board. “He didn’t hurt you?”

Rey blinked, her eyes finally coming back into focus, and looked to her friend. “No. I’m not hurt.” She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Apparently, I’m the granddaughter of Palpatine.”

The shock traveled over Finn’s face in waves. “You’re a Palpatine?” 

“You’re a what?” Poe exclaimed, coming into the room at that moment. 

“Palpatine’s granddaughter.”

Poe frowned and set his hands on his hips. “That doesn’t sound right. How old are you again?” He started going through the dates, counting up ages and deaths. “There’s no way you’re his granddaughter. Great granddaughter, maybe. But you’re far too young for just his granddaughter. And that’s taking into consideration that Palpatine may have had children. There are no common knowledge of him having any family, and he was so old when he died, it would have been so improbable…” He rubbed his jaw, trying to piece what he knew together. His face lit up, and he raised a triumphant fist. “We’re not too far from Coruscant. The medical records there should still have his biological records. We can get you tested for…” he frowned and waved his hand. “What are they called? The powerhouse of the Jedi? Midichlorians? See if they match up?”

“You can test to see if I’m related to him?”

“Yeah! Sure! It’s just a gene sequence, right?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Finn set a hand on her shoulder and gave an encouraging squeeze. “We can find out who we’re related to based on our genetics. It was kind of this exciting thing between stormtroopers. We all talked about how if we ever got out, or ever promoted high enough, we could find where we came from because of our blood.” He looked up to Poe. “Do you think we have time?”

Poe sighed and looked back towards the cockpit. “We’ve been in tighter spots. Let’s go find out who your family is.” He nodded to Finn. “We’ll even do yours.” 

* * *

Coruscant had more living beings on it all at once than Rey had ever seen, and she had fought battles and visited Pasaana during a festival. There was a general air of anxiety over the population. They had heard Palpatine’s message to the Galaxy, but they still had their lives to lead, and some long dead Sith Lord wasn’t going to stop them. 

Poe had directed them to a large medical clinic, easily convincing the Resistance sympathizing administrator to conduct the tests for them. Their blood had been taken, and with a quick mind trick and a little bit of hacking from BB-8, they had found Palpatine’s biometrics. 

Rey held Finn’s hand as tests were run, and Finn’s report came first. The assistant handed him a data pad and stood at his side, pointing out the rudimentary family tree that had been created. 

“Well, look at that,” the assistant cooed. “You have a relation to the Windus. I used to hear stories about a Jedi Master Windu who served in the Clone Wars.”

Finn stared at the names, putting his history together bit by bit.

Poe looked impressed and nodded his head.

“We also ran a midichlorian count, though, they’ve been outlawed for years. You, sir, have quite a high count, and if you were a youngling a century ago, you’d be a full fledged Jedi Knight by now.”

Finn nodded, “I knew it.”

“You knew it?” Poe asked. “You knew you had the Force?”

“I’ve just been figuring it out,” he defended.

The data pad pinged, and the assistant took it to switch to Rey’s results. “There doesn’t seem to be any recent genealogical records for any parents, and your results don’t coordinate with the biometrics we have on file for Sheev Palpatine. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any of the names that match your results." She showed Rey the list of names, all very unfamiliar names. She switched to the midichlorian results and a frown traveled across her face and back under her medical professional mask. "Your midichlorian count is exceptionally high. The highest count we have is from Anakin Skywalker, followed by Jedi Master Yoda." She pulled up reference graphs, and she showed them to Rey. "Your midichlorians eclipse both of theirs."

"What kind of Jedi are you?" Poe whispered.

Rey shook her head. "The Jedi that is going to kill Palpatine."

* * *

They approached the moon that held the wreckage of a Death Star, this time with renewed confidence. Rey was certainly not a Palpatine. This manipulative villain truly had no hold on her, and she was going to ensure that he released his hold over Ben Solo. He had hurt Ben and his family far too much.

Their Force Bond clicked into place, and Rey looked up at Ben. She stood and approached him, everything she had learned tumbling from her mouth. "He's been lying to you. He's been lying to everyone. I'm not related to him, in any way, whatsoever. He was lying."

"I never lied to you," Ben insisted.

"You never did, but you didn't know he was lying to you." She held his gaze. "We're trying to find our way to Exegol."

"I already know the way."

"I'm going to kill him," she informed.

"I know."

"Will you help me?" She offered her hand.

"To destroy the parasite in my head?" he took her palm in his and looked into her eyes. "Gladly.

* * *

The journey to Exegol was tense, especially after they had met up for Rey to join Ben in his own tie fighter, leaving Poe and Finn and Chewie and the rest of the Resistance to follow Ben's charted course into the dark planet. Rey and Ben though felt an easy determination between themselves. They were facing the same goal, knowing that the other was going to be at their side.

The descent into Palpatine's strange cavern was uneventful, almost unnervingly so. The crackles of lightning put their nerves on edge, and the rumble of thunder sunk deep in their stomachs.

"You've brought my dear granddaughter to me," Palpatine greeted as the pair approached him, now perched on his throne. "Well done, Kylo Ren."

"You're mistaken," Rey called out, her voice echoing throughout the cavern.

"She is not from your lineage," Ben confirmed.

"Oh, such a pity," Palpatine sighed. "Kill her, then."

"You've underestimated me," Rey growled, igniting the bright blue saber.

"I have, have I?" Palpatine cackled as Rey stalked towards him. "A nobody, then? Untrained? I know it wasn't you who killed Snoke." His sightless eyes turned up towards Ben. "I told you already, my boy: I am every voice you have ever heard inside your head."

Rey charged forward, but Palpatine waved his hand, and she flew into the air, her saber going dark, just as she had when she had charged towards Snoke so long before.

"You are only alive now because of Kylo Ren's impulsive decisions. He does not care for you. Why would he? You broke his heart." The Force dragged her through the air to hover before him. "He begged you to join him. He begged for you to love him. And you ran away, slamming the door in his face, the very face you scarred."

Rey struggled against his hold, screaming in defiance. A gentle presence caressed her mind, and Rey recognized Ben's Force Signature assuring that he stood with her.

"That was always the Jedi's downfall," Palpatine scoffed. "They were forbidden from attachments, but they formed them anyway. Your grandfather, that Anakin Skywalker, cared far too much. He loved his mother, and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his wife Padme Amidala, and his son Luke Skywalker. Each attachment doomed him further. Each one brought him closer to his own destruction."

Ben glared up at Palpatine, searching for some way to destroy him once and for all. Suddenly, voices began to whisper to him, but they were voices he had never heard before. They weren't his grandfather's vocoder nor Snoke's rasp. They were urging Ben to surge forward, to rise, to attack, to strike Palpatine down now.

He unclipped his saber from his belt as the cacophony of voices surged through his head, feeding on his anger and his fears and his pain and his loneliness. Now they came to him? Now they spoke to him? Now they tried to tell him what to do? He had begged and pleaded and searched for guidance his entire life, and all he had found were the false voices Palpatine had provided.

'They're him,' Rey's clear shining presence cried out to him. 'They're all him.'

Ben paused, staring up at her. She was right. Palpatine would never release his hold on him, not by his own choice.

She continued to struggle, and finally, she was able to raise her hand. She channeled all her anger and frustration into the world around her, just as she had in the desert on Pasaana. The lightning exploded to life, striking Palpatine straight through the heart. She was immediately dropped, and Ben shot his own hand and Force out to stop her from slamming into the stone ground. He released her as her feet brushed the ground, and with a single nod between them, they at last surged forward together, Ben igniting his own saber, Rey igniting hers, and thrusting them straight through Palpatine's trembling husk of a body.

"We're not done yet," Ben whispered, eyes closed. He was reaching out through the Force, guiding Rey along with him, and he took hold of every tendril of Palpatine's Force, his signature, his power, his soul. Palpatine was trying to run, to flee into some half-baked clone waiting for him, to inhabit the bits and pieces of the twisted bodies he had grown over time. Ben would not allow him to escape again, to continue to plague his mind, to continue to terrorize the Galaxy.

Rey followed Ben's lead, ripping and tearing through Palpatine's Force as Ben trapped the true monster.

The tremors in the Force rippled all through Exegol, tumbling further into the Galaxy. With the destruction of Palpatine's Force, his already decrepit body decayed around the Dyad's sabers.

The straightened up and stepped back, staring at the decay and carnage on the throne.

"My mind is so quiet," Ben breathed.

For a moment, there was silence, until the cavern started to crumble, and the war above them returned to their attention.

"We should leave," Ben decided, looking up and then back the way they came.

Rey took his hand, making him stop and turn to look down at her. "You turned. This is you. Solid, and clear." She let her saber fall to the ground, letting it go out, and she took hold of his collar to drag his face to hers. "I did want to join you," she breathed. "I wanted Ben." She finally closed the distance.

Ben dropped his own saber, the red crossguards going out, followed by the main blade. Rey was kissing him. He didn't know what to do with his hand, but he found one resting on her hip and then the other reaching up to cradle her neck.

She didn't mean to, but she gasped and pulled away to breathe.

His face broke into a wide toothy smile, following her to press his forehead against hers.

"You're so beautiful when you smile," she said in awe.

He found himself laughing, and he pulled her into a tight embrace.

A boulder tumbled from the cavern ceiling above them, crashing down nearby, throwing up a cloud of dust and rubble.

"Time to go," Ben reminded, taking a hold of her hand.

* * *

They returned to the Resistance Base where Leia was waiting. Ben fell to his knees at her feet, and she fell to her own, pulling her son into her arms. It was a sobering moment, all until Chewbacca fell to his own knees, pulling them both into a hug, and then reaching out for Rey to join them.

"You brought my son home," Leia praised, her breath stolen by her tears.

**Author's Note:**

> Looking for more? Check out my [profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/profile) or my [Reylo Ficlets.](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ReyloFiclets)


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